The WorldNetDaily web site has posted a summary of the evidence that columnist Jack Cashill has gathered to question the true authorship of Barack Obama’s book, “Dreams From My Father.”

The conclusion of his investigation is that Bill Ayers – former member of the Weather Underground, and radical left-wing education professor – was the primary author of important sections of Obama’s book and editor of the work as a whole.

This goes to further solidify in your Mandarin’s mind that Barack Obama is nothing more than an empty suit and the smiley-faced front man for a radical leftist/progressive/statist movement hellbent on reducing the power and influence of the United States.

You can see this on display at every press conference where the President can only speak in generalities and platitudes, but never has any real details for “his” plans and goals. This is due in part to the fact that for all of his supposed eloquence, he is nothing more than a talented teleprompter reader, and if it is not written down for him, he has no idea where he is supposed to go.

This lack of authorship by President Obama is not really an issue for your Mandarin. Many autobiographies have been ghostwritten by other authors. What is troubling about this case is that this book is not so much an autobiography, but a manifesto that details some very radical lines of thought. One can ask which of these thoughts are truly President Obama’s and which of them are Bill Ayers’, but what is most disturbing is that many of the thoughts are indistinguishable as to their authorship since they both hold similar views.

As we are beginning to see, many of the thoughts and ideas expressed by the President and the administration are not even authored by them. Just recently it was revealed that the stimulus package legislation wasn’t authored by congress or their staff, but rather by the Apollo Project – a far-left policy think-tank possibly funded by George Soros. It gives one pause to think about who is really in charge.

What this boils down to is that the hippies of the ’60s and ’70s have taken over, and rather than shower and shave, they just went out and got themselves a “respectable” pitchman. I guess Vince the “ShamWow” guy was busy. [Doubtless punching hookers. —ŒV]

The Mandarin

The Mandarin, whose real name is 吏恆, joined the order in 1309, and introduced the Gormogons into England during the 18th Century.

The Mandarin enjoys spending time with his pet manticore, Βάρἰκος, or Barry (who can be found in the Bestiary). When not in the Castle…well, frankly, nobody is quite sure where he goes.

The Mandarin popularized the fine art of “gut booting,” by which he delivers a powerful kick to the stomach of anyone that annoys him. Although nearly universal today, the act of gut booting or threatening someone or something with a gut boot is solely due to him.